National

WAVELAND, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi mayor has joined hundreds of others across the country to publicly support same sex marriage.

Waveland Mayor David Garcia tells WLOX-TV in Biloxi (http://bit.ly/1nNXNVj ) that he raised his children not to judge others.

So when he was approached by the Freedom To Marry Organization, he knew this was the right thing to do, and he's hoping other city leaders do the same.

"Simply, this is the right thing to do. I'm just not for any type of discrimination whatsoever. I'm totally against all discrimination," Garcia said.

In May, Waveland passed an anti-discrimination resolution in support of its LGBT residents. Oxford, Hattiesburg and Starkville are among other Mississippi cities that have done the same.

Garcia said, so far, reaction to his endorsement has been positive.

"I'm getting comments from all over the state of Mississippi. I'm getting emails from all over because they did a national press release on it. Everything I've received so far has been positive. I'm sure I will be getting some negative emails about it and some negative phones calls," said Garcia.

The mayor said he's prepared to respond to those negative calls.

"At the end of the day, it's not for me or them to judge. Our judgment day will come; each one of us will have a judgment day. I do not believe God put us here to judge others, or others to judge us," Garcia said.

Garcia said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents in Waveland help the economy and spend money like any other resident and he would welcome gay marriages in the city.